A Simple Pimple

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"Hey baby, what is your problem? Huh, you got a problem? You're good looking, you got a beautiful body, beautiful legs, beautiful face, all these guys in love with you. Only you got a look in your eye like you haven't been bucked in a year!"

Tony Montana, Scarface

The complexion affection is gaining direction as traders focus on the daily inspection. While the broader indices are nondescript, the Minx isn't lacking her daily dose of acne. You wanna see outsized moves? How about Xilinx (XLNX:NASD) grabbing 11% or Ebay (EBAY:NAS) scooping 6%? Not to be left behind, Eastman Kodak (EK:NYSE) is a purty picture (up 11%) and Fannie Mae (FNM:NYSE) has blood blistered through our aforementioned inflection point (4%) (and reversed that head and shoulders). The blemish of the day? Sandisk (SNDK) is taking a 15% haircut and has served notice that not all acne is created equal.

With all the breakouts (and occasional breakdowns), it's clear that individual volatility is trumping index land. As discussed, vols are at eight year lows and that, coupled with the uber-skewed sentiment surveys, is painting a rather complacent picture. Professor Succo is penning a piece on this as we speak so be sure to keep half an eye peeled to News & Views.

The morning chatter of a "major" terror announcement spurred the herd out of the gate. Once the details of the call were disclosed, the guessers got pressed and the tape took a rest. With that noise now out of the way, a truer picture of supply and demand will now evolve. Thus far, the breadth is flattish (better in the S's), the financials and semis are sticky green (Fannie and Xilinx), telecom is taking a breather (Qualcomm (QCOM:NASD), energy names are off some (although crude is firm), the dollar is approaching fresh lows, gold is pancake flat and Europe is mixed.

In flow's diner, I'm being told that there's some macro short selling of tech out there but I haven't wrapped my arms around its size. We know that the thread of this rally has been the consistent bid and that's created a psychological support system for Hoofy's heroes. Regardless of your approach and independent of your style, it may pay to tighten your stops (below) such that you can dance while the music plays but find a seat when it stops.

This week has been insanity so thanks for your patience on the posts. You know how much we care about our fellow Minyans and take me at my word, the professors are jugglin' and strugglin' to put our ears to the ground and our eyes on your screen. Some days will be busier than others--these last few weeks have been nuttier than most. Did somebody say back-to-back sashimifest?

Todd Harrison is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Minyanville. Prior to his current role, Mr. Harrison was President and head trader at a $400 million dollar New York-based hedge fund. Todd welcomes your comments and/or feedback at todd@minyanville.com.

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